beaches

Last week I decided to swing by my travel agent in downtown Fukuoka to see if they had any deals for travel to South Korea, as it is so close to Fukuoka, and I’ve never been. When I found a deal that included the return trip on a boat, and a night in a hotel that was cheaper than just the boat trip, I decided to grab it. As a result, 24 hours later I was speeding across the Korea Straight towards Busan on the JR Kyushu ‘Beetle ‘ hydrofoil…

As per normal, I had the normal issues travelling… Got to my local bus stop to see the bus leaving, even though I was 5 minutes early… Raced to get the bus, but it wasn’t until halfway to town I realised I had left my alien registration card (my Japanese ID card) at my apartment. They made a big fuss of it when I left Japan last time, but I decided I didn’t have time to go back and get it… Then the bus, which was supposed to go to the bus terminal (so I could change to a bus headed for the port) stopped at the station, and said it was going no further! Turns out when I raced for the bus earlier, I had jumped on the earlier bus, not the right one that went all of the way, so I had to try and find the bus terminal on foot. Everyone I asked didn’t know where it was, cos I was ages away from it… Finally found the correct bus stop and got to the port terminal, where I went through emigration with no issues – the girl asked for my ID card, but when I said I’d left it behind, she was fine with it. I suspect that if I hadn’t of spoken Japanese, there would of been problems.

The JR Kyushu ‘Beetle’ hydrofoil is a very small ferry that takes 3 hours to make the crossing between Hakata (Fukuoka, Japan) and Busan (South Korea). We were warned to keep our seatbelts on because they often “have to swerve quickly to avoid whales and dolphins”. I kept my eyes peeled, but didn’t see any. Did see a very interesting lighthouse as we were leaving Japan that was bright red and decked out as Santa for Christmas (complete with white beard and all).

See the boat at the back (it says BEETLE)? That's the ferry that we crossed international waters in, only 3 hours, but still, it's tiny! The ferry at the front is the international overnight one from Shimonoseki (only 1 hour from Fukuoka).

When I mentioned to my Japanese friends that I would be heading to South Korea for a night, I asked them what there was to do in Korea – everyones response was “Shopping and food”, so I headed to Busan with a list of markets to find and foods to try. On arrival, I headed for the main train station, where I jumped on a double decker tour bus, which proceeded to take me around the city for only ₩10,000 (approx $10 AUD). I jumped off at Haeundae Beach to get some lunch (time to start crossing of the “food list”!). Surprise, surprise, at one of the most touristy spots in town I ended up munching down on good ol’ Aussie burgers, not a Bimbimbap restaurant in sight. Wandered around the area for a while (saw the Fish Car – a small car near the aquarium that has been turned into a fish tank, with large colourful fish swimming through the steering wheel and gearstick).

Fish Car at Haeundae Beach

Checkin to my hotel was quick and easy – upon discovering I spoke Japanese, communication went from haltering English to fluent Japanese. Helps of course that I was staying in the Japanese part of town, in a Japanese hotel, but still much better than attempting to communicate in my non existent Korean (but perhaps my next language to learn?). My day finished up with a Korean barbeque for dinner, recommended by my hotel as “cheap and delicious”. And they weren’t joking, at only ₩12,000 (approx $12 AUD) for a huge amount of quality beef, kimchi and beer. They didn’t bat an eyelid when I came in on my own (despite Korean barbeque being a shared dish), and the owners mum helped me sort out the barbeque. I have never had real Korean barbeque before, it is eaten quite different in Korea compared to Japan – a long piece of beef on the barbeque was cut up into pieces (by the amused owners mum when she realised I had no idea what I was doing), and then dipped into sauce. Kimchi is added (all of the various bowls around the table are kimchi) on top, and then eaten. And, if you’re like me, and the owners mum is amused by you, she will put all of this together for you and basically spoon-feed (chopstick-feed) you!

Korean Barbeque

On my second/last day in Busan, I headed out to fulfill my shopping component of my list. Busan is famous for it’s Jagalchi Fish Market, but having been to the world’s largest fish market in Tokyo, I wasn’t particularly interested in seeking out this one. Despite my intentions, I ended up at the fish market whilst trying to find another market. The fish market was surprisingly clean and not too smelly, and I saw plenty of interesting sights, including tanks upon tanks of sea snakes, and octopus’s making a run for it in the street. I eventually found the Gukje market, but didn’t buy anything, as I’m going to China soon, and much of the stuff at the market was similar to the things I usually see in China. Had bimbimbap for lunch (another tick on the “food list”) at ₩4,000 (approx $4 AUD), which was much spicier and tastier than other versions I have eaten in Japan and Australia. My day ended with me wandering back to the ferry terminal, where I caught my speedy boat back “home” to Japan.

Flying in low over Hachijo Jima, it is immediently apparent why the few snippets of information about this remote yet close island found on the internet are so glowing. Only an hour south of Tokyo by plane (and not all that expensive, about $110 AUD one way), the island gives off a strong tropical, hippy, carefree vibe. Just the way to relaxing after spending time (even if it was only 2 nights!) in Tokyo.

The owner of the guesthouse I was staying in, Keiko, picked me up from the airport with the news that “Qantas rang, they’ve found your luggage”. And that was it, I fell in love with the island. A quick tour showed a tiny island – the main drag was easily walkable (ok, only easy if it wasnt so damn hot!), and there was greenery everywhere. Birds singing, water visible from every standing point, and hey, it has an Aussie pub!

Keiko’s place, the Galaxy Guesthouse, was gorgeous. Perched on the side of one of the mountains, it overlooks the ocean, with fantastic night views. Run by two gorgeous cats (one of whom spent each and every night on my bed!), it was the perfect place to unwind to of a night. Keiko is the perfect host, and speaks impeccable English, making it all that much easier for a non Japanese speaker! She also knows the best onsens!

Tomo, asleep on my backpack

My first day was spent on a bike – as my luggage had not yet turned up, I didn’t have my international drivers licence, which meant I couldnt hire a car. In any case, I headed down to the waterside, found some shade and read my book for a while. Eventually I headed back to Keiko’s office, only to find myself completly lost. I approached a guy, and asked him where I was, and how to get back to downtown. He threw my bike in the back of his car, and drove me in, everyone is so incredibly friendly. No-one locks anything, including cars – a little hard to get used to!

The following days were spent at onsens (the island has a heap of them, some free, some not, one at the bottom of a waterfall, amazing), the ‘Anchor Pub’ (owned and run by Steve, an Aussie who has found ‘the better life’), and swimming (the water was so fresh, great way to cool off). My bags eventually turned up about halfway through my stay, so I was able to hire a car to see the island – a must for anyone who is considering going, whilst it’s small, it’s also extremely hilly, combine that with the heat (its mid-summer at the moment, so about 30-35 celcius each day, plus extreme humidity) and you have more than enough reasons to warrant hiring a car. And it’s only 3000 yen (about $30 AUD) per day.

Sunset over Ko Hachijo

Eventually I had to leave, but I will be back for sure. I’ll be writing up a ‘how-to’ about Hachijo Jima (as I found so little information on it before I went), so watch out for it. Am now in Hakone, the area below the bottom of Mt Fuji. Hopefully it will clear tomorrow and I’ll get some good pictures.

Whoops – I might have been a little lazy in writing my last blog for my China trip… I’ve now been home for nearly a month (wow, time flies), and thought I’d better write that last post. But, honestly, I don’t have the time or the energy to write a nice long post like I normally do, so instead it’s a photo blog.

Chunking Mansions

My “deluxe hotel” in Hong Kong – these buildings consist of many, many low budget hostel/hotel/guesthouses, ranging in grime from slightly grimey to total uk. I managed to stay in one of the better ones, Taiwan Hotel, for only HK$200 a night (for a twin room with a window, AC and private bathroom).

Hong Kong

Looking over the waterfront, waiting for the night-time lightshow. As far as cities go, I’ve decided that Hong Kong is actually a pretty nice one to look at, plenty of greenery as soon as you step away from the city, and interesting buildings in the middle of town.

Hong Kong Nightime

Watching the ships go by, just before the nighttime light-show

Watching the skies

Stanley Beach in Hong Kong, just near the famous Stanley Markets

Life Savers in Hong Kong

Bringing in the boat – the beach “closed” at 6pm – complete with announcements to tell us to get out of the water!

Me at the beach

Enjoying a summer’s day – later it will become apparent just how sunburnt I really was…

Me, at the top of the peak

Nice view – but my mind wasn’t really on the view that particular day. Probably can’t quite see it in the photo, but my legs were the same colour as the red hat Matt was trying to “rescue” (see below). Owwwwww!

It’s a long way to the top – heading up to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island

So, now I’m home again, eagerly awaiting the birth of my neice/nephew. Off to Sydney, then Brisbane next month, then home for birthdays and Christmas. Hope all are well – this will be the last post for a while, until the next trip (China in January?)

Well well well, another day another adventure. Tash and I are just about to leave Phi Phi Island, its been like a dream. After spending two nights on trains we ended up in Phuket (Southern Thailand). The trains weren’t tooo bad, the first one was a sleeper train, we had beds and everything. The second one, however, didn’t have any sleepers left (we didn’t book early enough), so we ended up on seats for a 13 hour train trip. Ugh. Oh yeh, while we were in Bangkok, on our way down here, I had my hair plaited. Blonde and Purple, almost down to my waist. Very different, have got quite a few comments.

Anyway… Phuket was different, we spent the time on Karon Beach, there was no evidence of the Tsunami there. People were really nice, but obviously hurting, it was so quiet, no tourists anywhere. Meanwhile, we managed to find a mexican resturant that sold jugs of mararitas for about $4. mmm. Tash and I have got quite accustomed to the local drinks, the beer (Singha is the best) and the cocktails (mmm Mai Tai is awesome). But dont drink the whiskey….

We also went and visited Katong beach, the destruction there was obvious. All the resturants along the main beach had been wiped out, but were well on the way to being re-built. Construction was happening all around and people were really happy to see tourists starting to visit again. When we were there, they were having a bit of a celebration, to get the tourists through, so we sat on the beach for a while, having dinner and drinks.

The next day we set off for the Phi Phi Islands. Ferry across was uneventful, after watching a horror movie on giant squid we kept our eyes open though… Arrival at Phi Phi Don (the larger of the islands) was, well, theres no way to describe it. The tsunami had really hit here. The main beach, which used to be a collection of beautiful beach huts, stores, resturants and bars was just sand, dirt and corrugated iron. Some of the stores were being propped up by who knows what, others were tumbling into the sea. On our way through town to our hotel, we could see that basically everything had been wiped away. Surprisingly, here and there were places that apeared not to have been touched at all. Scary.

Eventually we made it to our resort, which only survived because it is on a hill, the waters didn’t reach it. It used to have a bridge crossing the canal in front of it, but that was washed away. In its place stands three planks that we had to wobble across (with our huge, heavy packs!!!) to get to the resort. Tsunami aside, the island is absolutley beautiful. The beaches are white sand, the water is the prettiest blue you’ve ever seen. We spent four days on Phi Phi Don, with a visit to Phi Phi Lei. Phi Phi Lei is where the movie “The Beach’ was shot. We visited Maya Bay and did some snorkelling, there were fish everywhere. They all loved trying to nibble on my hair – i guess the purple and blonde is a *BIT* strange… Back on Phi Phi Island we went to a beach party on of the nights, where songs were sung and people were auctioned off for charity… All proceeds were going to helping the people re-build, so everyone was quite happy to drink up! We also had fire twirling, which was quite awesome. Met quite a few foreigners from around the world. I must admit though, Australians are definetly the loudest drinkers, that and the Irish, Tash and I pretended we werent aussie… Theres only so many times you can hear ‘Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Oy Oy Oy’ in one night. There are about 100, maybe 150 people staying on the Island as far as I could see, an Island that used to have thousands visiting it, if anyone wants to take a holiday, I suggest Phi Phi, they definetly need the tourists, and its a beautiful place.

If you guys could see where I’m sitting to type ths email, its like paradise. I’m sitting on one of the decks at the resort, overlooking the bay, palm trees swinging in the breeze… Mmmm… Hope you’re all having a great time at home, next time I write, I’ll be in India, can’t wait, Indian food yum.

xoxo Bobs

ps Met some guys from England yesterday, they’re leaving for home today, its -4 Celcius over there right now, ugh! By the time we get there, it had better be warmer!!!